


The Mask

by littletechiebird



Category: Batman (Comics), DCU, DCU - Comicverse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-30
Updated: 2012-03-30
Packaged: 2017-11-02 18:44:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/372144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littletechiebird/pseuds/littletechiebird
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Request:  "Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth." - Oscar Wilde</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Mask

For anyone that knew him, it might be a tad bit disturbing to watch.

The way he flashed a smile, or incorporated just the right touch, at just the right time.. He could sell anything, but he sold himself the best. 

This persona could not have been farther from the truth in who this man was. A tortured soul that had been damaged long ago, trying to find a way to repair itself, mending as best it could, but never able to fully remove the trauma of events long passed. Of course there was plenty of good left in the man - you could look at all of his daily sacrifices and see that with ease - but there was a constant war being raged where he fought to keep control. 

In the moments of the glitz and glamor, this would never be seen.

It was a careful market. The persona had to be well kept, just like his business. With money, came attention. With one flaw in the constant and endless act, there was a risk posed to the darker business that was hidden away from full public comprehension. 

Bruce Wayne was the man to be and the man to have. Every woman had eyes for him - taken or not. Every man wanted to be him - whether they were already wealthy or not. He seemed to be the perfect man, after all. He ran a world renown business, maintained world status with fame, popularity, and wealth, then finally, he had adopted a family of his own, and had seemingly recovered from the pain of having his family ripped away from him at such a tender age. 

To the public, this was a man that had no flaws to speak of, except for the fact that he was human - though maybe with the meta “crisis”, that could be a plus in stead.

Now, when it came to Batman,  _the_  Batman.. 

That was the Knight of Gotham. The man, the beast - it was all up for debate (somehow) - was the one who gave them hope. He was the one who kept them safe. No one knew just what motivated this caped individual. No one knew of the pain that motivated him. It was his therapy, in a way. But more than that, it was his atonement. He would never admit it, but there were many things that he never said aloud. There were many things that he allowed no one to understand. But he couldn’t keep everything hidden. His family had been there through much.

But that was a side of the Batman that the public would never know.

  
They just knew of their protector, the service he provided, and some of the people that worked at his side to provide just the same.

But like knowing few sides beyond the simple protector himself, they knew not of the wisdom that came with each experience and each mission. The bitter honest truth that was fed to those he fought with, and those he fought against. It was often what no one wanted to hear, and often said in a way that took a greater effort to understand, but the value of what he spoke was undeniable. There was never a wasted moment or a wasted breath. Everything had a purpose. It was his just “his way”. It may have been hard to understand at times, for he had seen the questioning doubt so many times, but he was given the trust he had earned and worked for. 

What it all meant when looking at Bruce Wayne - that which the public saw - and the Batman - that which the public did not truly know - it came down to the raw man, himself. The true portrayal of the man came in neither title, but in the words that came from the man behind the mask. 


End file.
